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A Twist of Citrus

So. I have bad news and some good news. Bad news first right? Rip off the bandaide and all that... Jamie and I finally managed to get our money back from Qantas for our trip to Japan. We really wanted to go, and it's so unfortunate the the Tsunami has happened, our thoughts are with everyone in Japan and their families and friends that were, and still are being affected in the aftermath. We, for a couple of days after the tsunami hit, were hoping that it was going to remain a local problem and that we could be respectful and still go, but with the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima, the resultant rolling blackouts in Tokyo, and the overall scale of the situation, we just felt that it would be hugely disrespectful to go.

They don't need us there. They need our support, not our leisure tourism. So we've gotten a refund from Qantas, finally, and we've decided to put the money towards a trip to Hong Kong instead.* The original plan was to go to Japan for two weeks, but since neither Jamie nor I are familiar at all with Hong Kong, speaking Chinese, or what to do when we're there, we've opted to shorten our trip to 8 days. Bonus: we're actually saving about $1,000 between us on plane tickets by going to Hong Kong, so we're able to pretty much completely pay for our hotel room while we're there.

Anyway, as I was saying, we're not very solid on our plans yet, but yesterday, I ran into one of the girls who lives in the apartment above us at the ferry terminal in Circular Quay, and we talked the whole way home about what to do. She's going to lend us her travel books on Hong Kong, and offered to draw up a list of definite things we have to do while we're there.

Also. We're going to Disneyland! So excited. Even though I'm incredibly saddened both by having to delay my trip to Japan and the terrible trials they are going through right now. We're postponing the trip, and I am excited about learning about a new country and culture while I'm in Hong Kong. It should be a blast!

*Believe me, the whole getting a refund from Qantas ordeal was infuriating. I could, and probably will, write an entire blog post about that nonsense.